New Orleans' most famous 'unknown' musician? This guy.

Posted Sep 27, 2018

A portrait of Deacon John Moore by artist Jeff Morgan of Where Y'Art, as commissioned by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune for its "300 for 300" celebration of New Orleans' tricentennial. (NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

The Times-Picayune is marking the tricentennial of New Orleans with its ongoing 300 for 300 project, running through 2018 and highlighting 300 people who have made New Orleans New Orleans, featuring original artwork commissioned by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune with Where Y'Art gallery. Today: New Orleans musician Deacon John Moore.

The icon: Deacon John Moore.

The legacy: It was 1957, and a high school kid named John Moore set out try to forge a career as a New Orleans guitarist. Deacon John, as he would become known, hasn't stopped working since. A living New Orleans music legend, he has the rare of distinction of having performed at every single edition of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and has played on hundreds of classic recordings, from Aaron Neville's "Tell It Like It Is" and Ernie K-Doe's "Mother-in-Law" to Lee Dorsey's "Working in the Coal Mine" and Chris Kenner's "Land of a Thousand Dances." In recent years, he has become known as much for his natty onstage attire -- fedora, bowtie, suit -- as for his ability to bring any party to life with his longtime band, the Ivories. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he never enjoyed the sort of hit record that would thrust him into the national spotlight, but he shrugs that off. There's no time for regrets. There are gigs to be played, and for the man who has become known as one of New Orleans' best-kept musical secrets, that's good enough.

The artist: Jeff Morgan.

The quote: "(Allen Toussaint) came along and recognized that I had a talent, and put me in the studio. And now I've got something that they can't take away from me. I'm a part of the New Orleans history and music culture that came from that period. I can't believe all the stuff that I played on as a guitar player." -- Deacon John Moore, in a 2015 interview with The Times-Picayune

Explore more of Morgan's work online at WhereYart.net and in person at the Where Y'Art gallery, 1901 Royal St.

TRI-via

John Moore was born June 23, 1941, and grew up in a house on Tonti Street, one of 13 children. His was a musical family, with his mother playing piano, his grandfather playing banjo and his brothers and sisters playing a variety of instruments.

In a 2015 interview with NPR

He got his start singing in the church choir. Years later, when he decided he needed a stage name to set him apart, he -- inspired by a line in Roy Brown's 1947 hit "Good Rockin' Tonight" -- settled on "Deacon," according to the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame website.

Moore decided to become a professional musician 1957, when he was still in high school.

While many of his contemporaries hit the road to find work at the time, he stayed at home, which saw him fielding frequent calls to do session work at local recording studios, including

He's not a snob when it comes to paying gigs. He has played at pretty much every sort of local event imaginable, from Carnival balls and jazz funerals to class reunions and wedding receptions.

Higher-profile bookings of his include playing at the White House Congressional Ball in 2005 at the invitation of President George W. Bush, as well as at the inauguration of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal in 2007.

He can act, too. His on-screen credits including appearances in the locally shot 1987 film "Angel Heart," as well as in 2013's "The Last Exorcism Part II." He also appeared in a minor recurring role in the first season of the HBO series "Treme."

He was inducted into the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame in 2000 and the

Source: The Times-Picayune archives; NPR; Louisiana Music Hall of Fame; staff research